Beneath the Willow
by BoundlessDelirium
Summary: "WHY!why are you doing this, why aren't you just letting me go after him..." His voice broke as sobs began trembling his body... 6959 some 3380
1. Prologue

**_PROLOGUE_**

"Why...why did you go..." a man cried while laying on the muddy ground, clothes torn, face covered in dirt, rainsoaked clothes clutching to his skin.  
A half-empty bottle clenched tightly in his fist that was shaking against his chest as he pulled himself into a cradled position.  
"...why did you leave me here..." he sobbed quietly, not knowing anymore which streakes on his cheeks were because of the rain and which were his tears.  
Truth to be told, he didn't care, he had long ago given up on caring.

"Tsuna! I see him!" Suddenly the tranquility of the rainfall was broken by hastened footsteps and shouts.

The lump on the ground did not move nor react to them, instead he just stared deep into the forest, almost as if waiting for something.

"Gokudera!" The tenth generation mafia boss cried out to his friend while making his way down the hill side, yamamoto running some distance behind him.

_*Oh, why do they keep finding me, why wont they just let me go..*_

"Gokudera!" Tsuna haistily shaked the shoulder of his storm guardian while kneeling next to him."Hey, Gokudera, asnwer me..." He said softly, grasping the hand that was holding the bottle so thightly his knuckles were white. The moment his hand made contact with Gokudera's, his eyes flew open and he hastily lifted his other hand to touch Gokuderas' cheek.  
"You're ice cold...oh..Gokudera.." He turned to Yamamoto who now stood beside him.  
"Yamoto, he..we need to get him warm and out of this rain..." He saw that neither of them had remembered to wear a jacket in their haste to head out, they both were wearing mere jeans and t-shirts, nothing to keep the cold body that had laid on the ground, for god know's how long, warm.

He then heard light shuffling of clothes and felt something warm cover his hand that still hovered on top of Gokudera's

"What are you two standing around for? Can't you see he's already starting to turn blue?"

Hibari stated calmly and crouched down to pick Gokudera off the ground, Tsuna looked carefully at his face and saw indeed, that he was very,very cold, probably near hypothermia.  
"Hibari-san, thanks..." He quietly said, still shocked by the evenings events.

"Let's just get him into the warm, I'm going ahead, I'll meet you inside."

"Yosh, see you there" Yamamoto said smiling weakly and watching the retreating back of Hibari.

"How did it come to this..." Tsuna mumbled from his position on the ground and noticed something glimmering on the ground, lifting up, he realized it was a ring  
_*isn't there anything we can do for you?...*  
_A hand was laid on his shoulder in a comforting manner, he turned to looked at Yamamoto and smiled lightly, he knew that being gloomy wouldn't help.

"We..we should head after Hibari and Gokudera... I think I have to discuss this with Reborn, the situation is too much for me to handle..." Tsuna rose to his feet and slipped the ring into his pocket, Yamamoto noticed this,but didn't ask any questions,he was thinking too, that they needed a solution to this, and quick..

Both of them were silent while making their way to the mansion, amongst the path the lead there they could see Hibari's footprints that stayed at equal distance the whole time, which meant that he had been running with the same speed altrough the way.  
*_We are all equally worried...I just wonder how we could get it trough to him...*_ Tsuna wondered deep in thoughts, he had been at a loss before, but now he knew that he had to do something, even if it meant letting someone else take care of the cituation.

"Don't worry, I'm sure this will turn out alright at the end" Yamamoto said smiling kindly and patting Tsuna on the shoulder.  
Sighing deep, Tsuna climbed up the stairs to the front door  
"I sure hope so..." he answered as he grabbed the metallic handle and pulled the door open,  
the warm air clashing against the cool air outside as they stepped inside.

* * *

Ok. This is just a prologue,so excuse it for it's shortness, I am not sure how long this is going to get,but I can warn already that due to the themes this fic is going to be handling, it's rating will go up. There'll be no lemon,...yes no lemon, no matter what.  
Obviously,there's going to be some softer scenes but... There is and will be character death, mental problems and some other so..  
As for the pairings, this is mainly 6959, there is some 3380 and that's about it.. (altough Hibari seems way too comfortable around Tsuna...)  
I'll be updating the next chapter soon, as soon as I figure out where to cut the text : ].  
Thanks for reading and hopefully i'll see you in the next chapter :3


	2. Chapter 1

_Beneath the Willow - Chapter 1_

* * *

Yamamoto closed the door behind him and noticed two towels on the table next to threw his shoes off his feet and turned to Tsuna who was just untying his shoelaces.

"Here, try drying yourself a bit." He handed over the towel to Tsuna and began drying the water droplets that hung from his own hair.

"hmm..thanks..." Tsuna said and threw the towel on his head, ruffling it a few times and then dropping it onto his shoulders in frustration.  
It would be useless to try and calm himself like this, it was obvious that neither of them cared whether the carpets were wet or not, also there was a clear trail wherefrom Hibari and Gokudera had went.  
He began walking towards their living room, where the trail obviously lead, hearing a crash, he picked up his pace, afraid that Gokudera might be having another attack.

Upon arriving,he saw Hibari kneeling beside the couch Gokudera layed on, tucking another blanket ontop of the fragile looking storm guardian.

"Hibari,here's the thermometer." Ryohei suddenly spoke from behind Tsuna and passed him to give the item to Hibari

"Thanks, could you bring some warm water and a towel?" Hibari said and gently put the thermometer into Gokuderas mouth.

Ryohei nodded and left the room again, smiling weakly at Tsuna while passing him.

"I'll light the fireplace." Yamamoto stated when entering the living room and walking straight to the fireplace, stocking wood into it.

Tsuna took careful steps and approached the couch, standing behind it and looking down on Gokudera.  
"What's his condition?" He asked Hibari who was currently looking at the thermometer.

"Pretty good, considering the possible amountof time he was out there..."Was the silent answer.

"He's beginning to warm up a bit." Hibari said while he touched the silver-haired man's hand under the blankets.

"That's good..." Tsuna felt a bit relieved when he looked at the face of his guardian, that now had gained a bit color.

"i'm going to help Ryohei..." Yamamoto said when rising up from the floor, the fire was now cracking and the warm already spread into the living room.

"Ok, can you also bring a few more hot-water bottles" Hibari said, not turning his gaze from the patient before him,

"Sure" Yamamoto smiled and strided out of the room.

"Sawada" Hibari said in a serious tone and lifted his gaze to look at the tenth mafia boss.  
"I think that you too know, that this can't go on anymore, it's beyond us."

Tsuna sighed and turned to look at the fire  
"I know...this has been going on for too long already, I've wondered everynight, if I should of had called before.."

"We all wanted to believe it would turn out for the best, but we can't go around the facts anymore..." Hibari said and rose to stand straight  
"Nobody blame's you,nor anyone else."

Tsuna turned to look at Hibari, it wasn't so rare these days that Hibari was so forward on his speech, infact, he had been a valuable help for the past four years,when he had finally given up on the act and told Tsuna why he hated the idea of being with them and opened up about his past to Tsuna.

"I'll go make a few phonecalls right away.." Tsuna said quietly and nodded to Hibari while exiting the room.

As he walked up the stairs and made his way towards his office, he felt the weight on his shoulders grow and the grip that had been around his heart for sometime now tightened.  
the burning feeling began entering his eyes, but he refused to let the tears spill, instead be blinked furiously and tried to breath in deep.

He knew that now he had to fill the role he had accepted 6 years ago.

Their beginning had been a rough one, with some problems with ninth and varia, but eventually even Xanxus had agreed to the agreement the Ninth made for them.  
Tsuna had never shown it, but he missed Ninth more than he was ready to admit even to himself, he had began understanding all the things Ninth had taughtt him, and he was grateful that they all had received some training from the Ninths family as well before they had stepped in to the role of the leading family.

He pushed open the door to his office, the hinges made a slight cry as the heavy wooden door opened.  
welcoming the feeling of the thick,warm carpet beneath his bare feet,he closed the door behind him.

Not bothering to turn on the ceiling light, he walked to his desk and slumped into the leather chair, resting his head against the back of it and staring at the ceiling.

Never before had he felt as anxious to grab the phone as now.

Slowly, he pushed himself upstraight and clicked the light on.  
As the light flickered on, he stared at the picture frame that stood next to it.

It was a picture from the day when they were moving in, everyone was smiling, to Tsuna, it seemed as if Hibari smiled a bit too, altough the cloud guardian himself always denied that.

His gaze got stuck at the familiar grey mob in the picture.

_"How come you don't let us help.."_

Unconciously, he began twisting his ring around his finger, the rain still poundered outside,  
it hit the window and filled the otherwise silent room, not even the ticking of a clock could be heard.

Tsuna reached for his phone and dialed a familiar number, he needed to talk to someone else before calling Reborn.

He put the phone to his ear and twirled around in his chair to look out of the window.

The new sound that covered his mind now were the dialing sounds of the phone.

"Damn!"_ *crash*_

Yamamoto was just about to arrive to the kitchen when he heard the crash and a long string of uncomprehensive language after that.

He practically ran the remaining distance to the door and saw Ryohei by the stove, holding his hand while the water was boiling way too hardly and throwing droplets around.

"Senpai!" He yelled and ran to move the kettle away and turn the heat off.

"Phew... What on earth were you trying to pull." He turned to Ryohei and saw him holding a slightly reddened hand  
"We're you burnt!" He asked worriedly and reached out to examine the boxers hand.

"Again with the senpai..." Ryohei muttered and looked away, pretending to be hurt by Yamamoto's choice of words.

"Well..I.,..it just came out naturally...I had no time to think.." Yamamoto muttered back

"You need to put this under cold water,come now" He said and yanked the white haired man gently by his hand

"It's fine, it's not hurting at all." Ryohei answered and lifted the hand more up so that Yamamoto was able to see that he had no blisters forming and that the skin was ok, despite being slightly red.

"If you say so..." Yamamoto sighed and dropped his gaze to the ground

Ryohei reached out both of his arms and wrapped them around the black-haired man, pulling him into a gentle embrace.  
Yamamoto buried his face into the crook of Ryohei's neck and breathed in the man's familiar scent, wrapping his own arms around the other as well.

"You need to get rid of that gloomy face, it doesn't fit you" Ryohei whispered gently.

"It doesn't fit you either" Yamamoto taunted and pressed himself deeper into the warmth.

He still wore the same clothes as before, that now were reduced to being only moist, but still a bit chilly.

Ryohei smiled a bit, a worried smile that graced his face far too often now days.

He knew that Yamamoto was worried about Gokudera, despite their continuous quarreling, it had turned into that more of a brother like act, Yamamoto had been the one to find Gokudera countless time's, but now that he was beyond their reach, the rain guardian had gotten more quiet and lost. He too was worried, but mostly about the man in his arms,  
he knew that Yamamoto was also trying to ease the burden on Tsuna's shoulder's, trying to help on the investigation as much as possible.

The rain guardian was always so worried of washing away the problems of other's that he ended up not paying attention to himself, and at those time's, Ryohei hoped that he could act as the sun, and ease the burden, to dry away the meaningless worry from his lover.

He raised his other hand to Yamamotos cheek and gently lifted his head upwards, placing a gentle kiss on his temple.  
"We should take the water to Hibari" Ryohei said and smiled gently, looking deep into the brown eyes before him.

Yamamoto nodded and hugged Ryohei tightly before letting him go.

"I'll fill the water bottles, you can take the warm water and towel to Hibari." Yamamoto said while turning to get the bottles  
"Otherwise youll end up burning yourself again for sure." He said while smiling to the sun guardian.

Ryohei smiled back and nodded, despite knowing that the real reason was that Yamamoto wanted a moment alone to calm down, before going to see Gokudera again.

He grabbed the water and began walking to the hallway  
"I'll see you in a minute" He spoke over his shoulder before disappearing into the dim light.

"Hibari, here's the water" He said and put the water and towel on to the floor next to Gokudera.  
Hibari had been fixing the fire a moment ago and was now standing, staring at the flames.

"Thanks." He said and turned around. quietlt making his way back to the couch, he sunk the towel into the water, squeezed off the exess water and began gently wiping the mud off of Gokudera's face. From beneath it, cuts and bruises became visible.  
'_He must of had been running and falling a lot...'  
_He wiped the rest of the grey-haired ones face and took out the bandages and desinfectioner, wiping the wounds clean and covering them.

_'How long do you intent to continue this?'_

At the same time, Yamamoto entered the room with the water bottles.

"Where should I place these?" Yamamoto asked as he stopped next to the couch

"Put one under his feet and the other a bit upper, you can leave two of them there, I'll put them on his sides in a moment.." Hibari answered, still focused on cleaning a few bigger cut's on Gokuderas neck.

"Ok" Yamamoto answered and began lifting the covers', Ryohei extended his hand to stop him, but too late. Silently, Yamamoto placed the bottles on their places and put the covers on.

He then turned around to look at Ryohei, shock written all over his eyes and tears glimmering.

Ryohei spread his hands open and waited for Yamamoto to walk into them, he then quided the black-haired man to the other couch and sat them both down, never releasing his grip of the other.

He felt the silent trembling of the other and gently swayed them back and forth, trying to say soothing words into Yamamotos ear.

He knew why Yamamoto was so shocked, he had been too when he and Hibari had taken Gokudera out of the wet clothes.  
The storm guardians physical condition was way more worse than what it seemed like.  
His muscles had shrunk, ribs ccould be seen clearly, veins rising up from the paper thin skin, his legs were mere bone and skin.  
Gokudera had been hiding that well from everyone, but the way he looked now, it was a wonder the man was still alive.

Yamamoto began stirring in his grip, indigading that he had calmed down, Ryohei loosened his grip and watched as Yamamoto lifted his head. He reached out his hand and wiped away the single tear that cascaded down his cheek.  
"I'm gonna go make something warm to drink,ok?" He said,smiling. Standing up, he grabbed a blanket from the armchair and threw it over Yamamotos shoulders.

"Hibari, Do you want something for a drink?" He asked the man who was just finishing up the bandaging.

"Some tea with a hint of rum would be great." He said, stretching his arms and rising up from the floor.

"Got that, I'll be back soon." With a last glance towards Yamamoto he was out of the room.

-with tsuna-

"I see..So there's still no lead on the culprits?"

_"No, I'm sorry, we have been searching from everywhere, but it seems as if though those men have disappeared from the earth."_

"Dino-san said the same when I called him..."Tsuna pinched the bridge of his nose.

_"Well keep trying, but dont get your hopes too up... Have you called Reborn?"_

"I was thinking of calling him next."

"_Hmm... Well, I have to go, but we'll keep you on the track if something happens."_  
"Ok,thanks.."  
_"No thanking."_

Tsuna heard the some sound and then the line went mute.

"So..Varia has no leads either..." Tsuna sighed yet again and turned back to his table.

He laid his head against the table top, breathing heavily.  
Dino's family had been on the lookout too, but no-one had found anything.

Image of Gokudera laying in the forest not that long ago played in his mind and he felt his -throat tighten and the burn returned to his eyes.

"Fuck!" He slammed his hands hard against the wooden surface  
"Fuck this all!" He felt the tears spill from his eyes "Why!"

The phone began ringing and he jumped to sit upstraight, wiping his face with his hands before he reached the phone.

He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself in order to not let his voice shake.

The phone rang in a demanding manner and he lifted it to his ear

"H-hello?" *Damn* he thought when his voice failed

_"Tsuna, is everything alright?" _  
"R-Reborn?" Tsuna sighed in relief "I was just about to call you."

_"I thought so..sounds like things aren't well?" _

"No..they're worse than before...Reborn... I don't know what to do with Gokudera.."

"_Hmm... what's his condition?"_

"He ran away again tonight, we found him in the woods and he's currently sleeping downstairs"

"_Ok, well, try to stay calm, I'm currently making my way over there, but it might take a few hours, I have to make a small detour on the way"_

"Ok.I'll see you then..Bye"

"_Ciaociao_" Reborn answered softlymand closed the phone

Tsuna sighed and rose from his chair.  
He walked around the room, not thinking about anything, and yet his mind raced a hundred miles an hour.  
Eventually, he sat down in an armchair, curling into a ball and staring at the wall.

He only now realized that he felt slightly chilly, he still wore the wet clothes from before,  
his jeans clunc nastily to his skin.  
Slight trembles went trough his body, but he was too tired to notice.

He stared at the clock for who knows how long, he watched the minutes pass by, but found himself too lost in thought to actually realize the time.  
The pounding of the rain against the window and the even ticking of the clock made a peaceful rhytm to his mind and he soon found his eyes drooping close.

Soon enough, he was dozing off in the armchair.

"Ok, here we go.." Ryohei said when he entered the living room. The atmoshpere was not that of the lightest, Hibari sat in an armchair with a book on his lap and Yamamoto had remained in the same place as where he left him, only that he was now staring at the fireplace, obviously deep in thought.

"Here,Hibari" He said and placed the tea onto the table next to the armchair.

Hibari glanced up from his book and nodded as a thanks.

Setting the tray on the coffee table, Ryohei sat next to Yamamoto, he wrapped his other arm around him, gently stroking his arm.

"I made you some hot chocolate.." He said gently

"Thanks" Yamamoto smiled and reached out to grap his cup  
"It smells good." He took a sip and smiled happily, Ryohei always managed to make chocolate that melted his tongue away.  
"It's been three hours and Gokudera isn't showing any signs of waking up." Yamamoto said aloud while observing the man that laid on the couch.

"No wonder..any normal human would have needed a stomach lavage.."

Yamamoto and Ryohei turned to look at Hibari who was still staring at his book

"You mean...he's passed out?"

"Well, he has a minor cold, but I think he's mostly sleeping away the effects of the whiskey."  
Hibari snapped his book shut and took his tea from the table, taking a long sip.

Ryohei and Yamamoto stayed silent in their position on the couch, the atmosphere in the living room wasn't as depressing as before, more like the calm after a storm, but still slightly electrified.

Nobody knew how much time had passed, the fire had began reducing in the fireplace,  
but no-one made a move to add wood in it.

Hibari rose from his chair, placing the book on the table.  
Glancing to his right, he saw that Yamamoto was nodding against Ryohei's shoulder.

Sometimes he really envied the way those two could be so carefree, not like they weren't worried, but when he looked at them now, it seemed to him that they had a peace of mind, despite the cituation.  
"I'm going to take Gokudera upstairs and go see how Sawada is doing, I think he should be off the phone by now..." Walking to the couch, he began lifting off some of the blanket,'_No use takin them all upstairs_'

"Do you need help in carrying?" Ryohei asked as he watched Hibari carefully lift Gokudera from the sofa.  
"No, If you could put off the fireplace and take these supplies away then that's enough" He answered and began striding out of the room, carrying the fragile feeling man in his hands.

Never before had he met anyone that was as light as Gokudera now.  
It truly was a wonder that the man had succeeded in hiding his condition from them for so long.

* * *

Ok, here's chapter 1, at first i was supposed to write it on one go, but seems like the oneshot just isn't forming in my mind : )  
Sorry if it's a bit confusing on some parts, but they'll all be explained once i get the story on the roll.  
I'll try to keep updating this as quickly as possible, since I have my other fics to do as well.. the one's I have already published,,.. i'm continuing them too, but I have once again so many new stories that I don't know what to write...  
Luckily there's Varia-Drabbles to write when I get too mixed up.. (Altough.,,there's about 4 drabbles that I haven't published since they are not making any sense, even to me :D [night-time productions 3])  
So, anyways, hope you liked the story so far and maybe I'll see you in the next chapter? :3


	3. Chapter 2

Second chapter is finally here. sorry for the long time, but I had a small problem with the pairing (almost ended up changing it : D)

Thanks for all the alerts, nice to know that it's worth reading : )

Hopefully you'll like this chapter too!

Godere! :)

* * *

Recap:

_"I'm going to take Gokudera upstairs and go see how Sawada is doing, I think he should be off the phone by now..." Walking to the couch, he began lifting off some of the blanket,  
__No use takin them all upstairs' _

_"Do you need help in carrying?" Ryohei asked as he watched Hibari carefully lift Gokudera from the sofa._  
_"No, If you could put off the fireplace and take these supplies away then that's enough" He answered and began striding out of the room, carrying the fragile feeling man in his hands._

_Never before had he met anyone that was as light as Gokudera now._  
_It truly was a wonder that the man had succeeded in hiding his condition from them for so long._

* * *

Upon arriving upstairs, he didn't bother to turn on the lights, instead he relied on his senses and memory to make his way to Gokudera's room, which was not that far away from Tsuna's office.  
He kicked the door open, ingnoring the sound of the lock breaking. It was for the better that the storm guardian couldn't lock the door.  
He walked over to the bed and laid the man there, turning around, he lifted the blanket that had been thrown to the floor and spread it over Gokudera.

Next he went to close the curtains, eventough it was already dark, but maybe it would help the man to sleep longer in the morning.

Quietly he made his way out, closing the door as well as possible.

Walking further into the hallway he approached Decimo's room, a dim light was making it's way out from under the thick wood door. No sound could be heard from the other side.  
Knocking softly, he waited for an answer, when none came he knocked a bit louder and opened the door.

Inside the tablelight was on, illuminating the massive table that stood infront of the tall windows, the phone layed there in the middle of it, disregarded from it's cradle.  
Looking to his left, he spotted their boss sleeping in one of the armchairs, troubled look on his face.

He flipped on the ceiling light, making Tsuna stirr a bit in his sleep.

Grabbing a pillow from the nearest chair, he threw it at Tsuna, hitting him square in the head.

Tsuna, heard someone enter the room and tried to muster up the courage to open his eyes and meet the brightness that obviously was present in the room now.

_'Mean,..how can someone turn on the lights over a sleeping person'_'

Cracking on eye open, he saw Hibari standing some distance away from him, hands folded on his chest.

"You know, we don't need anymore patients, so go get those clothes changed or else I'll make you hospitalized"

Tsuna's eyes jumped open immediatly, he knew that despite Hibari had gotten a bit softer,  
lack of sleep and the late events were not good on his temper and Tsuna did not want to test how long it lasted.  
"I'm awake!" He yelped and sprung up from the chair, immediatly whacking a hand against his forehead as a wave of head-ache and dizziness hit him.

"Agh!" _'Must of have gotten my shoulders in a knot'_ He told himself while turning to look at the clock.

"Has Reborn arrived yet?" He asked Hibari and walked to his desk, turning off the lamp.

"No, the weather has seemed to have gotten worse so I suspect the roads aren't in a very good driving condition."

"Ah, I see." Tsuna really hoped that the hitman would be arriving soon, he needed to discuss on what to do next, to get his mind on somekind of a track

"Neither Dino or Varia have found a lead on the culprits, but they're still continuing the search.." Tsuna said, answering the question that was hanging in the air, three families had been working on the case and yet nothing could be found.  
Hibari had taken Kusakabe and searched as well, but their luck had been as bad as others.

_'The only one who might know something is Ken, but...'_

"Tsunayoshi" Hibari's voice startled him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at his cloud guardian.

"Ahha...Wha?" Obviously, he had been too deep in his thoughts..who knows how many times Hibari had called him.

"Nothing forget it." Hibari sighed and walked to the door.

"Ah, yes, thank you for your help Hibari-san." Tsuna said as Hibari only looked at him over his shoulder and made a curt nod.

_'Hibari is right, there's nothing we can do tonight..'_ He looked out of the window, hands crossed behind his back, the rain seemed to be falling down even harder than before, the wind also picking up it's strenght.

"Guess I better go and get some rest too.." Turning, he walked across his table, snatching a file with him and walking to the door. He turned off the light and closed the door, the familiar squeak could be heard and then a soft click echoed in the darkness enveloped around him, and it felt somewhat comforting.

_"I need a warm shower'_ he thought when series of chills ran up and down his spine.

Steam covered the bathroom when Tsuna turned off the spray and stepped out of the shower.  
Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his hips, taking another one that he threw over his head, ruffling his hair in it a few times before draping it over his shoulders.  
He wiped the steam off the mirror with his hand and leaned against the sink, staring at his reflection.

Swollen eyes, bags under his eyes, lines were forming on his forehead.  
Slowly he pressed his head against the mirror, welcoming the cooling feeling on his forehead.  
His breath stuck to his throat again.  
'_Now's not the time for this'_ He shook his head and threw on his pajama pants and walked out of the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom.

Walking over to his table, he picked up the file he had brought along.  
Flipping off the ceiling light, he stumbled his way back to his bed.

He doupted he'd get a good night sleep this time either.

He turned on the small lamp on his nightstand and opened the file, reading trought the contents over and over again.

After he had read the same sentece for the fifth time, he gave up, there was no way he could concentrate on other subjects right now.  
He closed the file and threw it to the floor, frustration and anger building up inside him.

Resting his head against his palm, he could feel pulsing of his veins.

His eyes began to droop close and he decided that it was better to try and get atleast some rest.  
He flipped off the light and laid down on the pillows, closing his eyes and letting the tiredness overcome him.

Atleast for five minutes or so.

Soon he stirred awake, shifting his pillow to get a more comfortable position, throwing the blanket off, rolling around and around, tossing his hands and feet, but nothing helped.  
The opposite, he got more awake the more he moved.

Sparing a glance at his clock he realized that he had been asleep for less than 15 minutes.  
He kicked the blanket out of his way, he knew that he couldn't sleep like this.

He needed to see how Gokudera was doing.

* * *

Silently he padded out of his room and down the hallway.  
The rain continued as hard as before, the hallway was still pitch black and Tsuna was sure that he'd hit something or knock a table over.

Miracuosly, he managed to get to Gokudera's door, without a huge commotion.  
He slided his hand over the wooden surface, searching for the lock.

_'Hmm..it's broken?'_ He questioned as he felt the lock underneath his hand, indeed it was dislocated and only served for the purpose of barely keeping the door shut.  
He pushed the door quietly open and slipped in.

Tsuna made his way next to Gokudera's bed, he pulled a chair next to it and sat down,pulling his knees to his chest and just staring at his friend.  
After a moment, he reached out his hand and touched Gokudera's forehead, the man was indeed beginning to develop a fever.

He pulled his hand back and crossed both of them over his knees, resting his chin on top of them.  
His mind began wandering, back to the day when all of this had began.

-flashback-

_It had been the first quiet week in months, they had been enjoying the quiet, free afternoon each in their own way. Tsuna on the other hand, had been in his office, organizing all the papers and things, he never knew that a boss had so much work to do._

_Yamamoto had been set off to meet his old man, Lambo wondered somewhere with I-Pin and Bianchi, Ryohei had left to find Colonelo and Mukuro went to Kokyo land. _

_Hibari was, well, Hibari so no-one knew where he was at._

_Tsuna had been discussin with Reborn, when a flustered Fuuta ran to the room,  
__explaining something with such speed that even Reborn had been puzzled._

_Giannini had received an emergency alarm from the devices he had put up in Kokyo.  
T__hey had immediatly tried to contact Mukuro and the others, but no answer was received._

_Tsuna had left with Reborn, after contacting Yamamoto, who was closest to the place under __emergency._

_"Tsuna, be careful, we don't know whats going on, this could be only a trap to lure you out."_

_Reborn had warned them while they had observed the old, run down building that seemed normal to the outside, but who new what was going on inside._

_Yamamoto had arrived as they had been about to enter the building, Ryohei accompanying him._

_Tsuna had hesitated wether or not to inform Gokudera, but seeing as the cituation was unknown, it was better to leave the storm guardian out, they all knew how passionate Gokudera was about protecting his lover, as well as his friends and that had caused them some problems before, but up until now they had been minor.__'But this time I have a strong feeling of this not being something small..'' Tsuna had thought when they had silently infiltrated the building. _

_Upon entering, they had heard a loud bang from further in, soon, they smelled something burning and smoke crept towards them along the corridor. Faint odour of gunpowder and sulfur reached them.  
__That was enough for them, the cituation didn't sound like something small, Reborn signaled them to follow him._

_As they dashed towards the sound, Tsuna could hear distant yells, the sound probably belonging to Ken._

_New bang echoed in the corridor, this time it was a serie of bangs, not as loud as the first one._

_Faint orange glow enveloped them and suffocating heat pushed against their faces as they reached the end of the corridor and entered a large room, that was slowly being swallowed by flames, smoke and dust dancing trough the air._

_Tsuna spotted Ken laying on the floor unconcious, only ten meters apart from them._

_He made a move to go over, only to be stopped by Reborn who ordered Yamamoto to go check on the blond instead. _

_When they made their way further into the room, the amount of devastation became more clear, there had obviously been a fight beetween very powerful people. The room was basically destroyed to shreds. Tsuna had now recognized it as the extra wing that had been built a a few years ago, to serve in the purpose of a training room.  
_

_In the middle of the room was a big, burnt circle and on the right of them they saw Mukuro, _

_and it seemed like he was crouching down to protect someone._

_Suddenly illusionary mist spread from under his body, Tsuna and the others stood still,  
__waiting for what was going to happen._

_The mist dissolved and they saw Chrome laying down on the ground, bleeding from various parts of her body.  
Tsuna rushed over to her, not caring wether it was safe or not._

_He crouched down next to her and gently tried to talk to her, slightly shaking her shoulder,  
__waiting for response._

_He saw the movement of her chest and knew that she was atleast breathing_

_"What a relief...but where are Mukuro and Chikusa.." He thought outloud and turned to look at Reborn who now stood beside him._

_"What on earth has happened here... Did you see any signs of Mukuro or Chikusa? How are we going to..." _

_"Tsuna,Tsuna...You're doing it again, shut up, breathe, think and then speak, you can see these things better than anyone else."  
Tsuna realised he had been panicking again and took a deep breath, trying to sort out his thoughts._

_"First,we need to get Chrome and Ken out of here and search for the other two."_

_Tsuna said calmly and turned to Chrome's side once again-_

_"Good, that's more like it." Reborn said with a smile to his voice._

_"I'll go help Ryohei to search for Mukuro, you take Chrome out." And with that Reborn moved further into the room, towards the other end._

_Tsuna saw Ryohei scanning the other side and Yamamoto who was already taking Ken out of the building._

_'I wonder if it's safe to move her..' Tsuna tried to lift Chrome as carefully as possible, afraid that her injuries could get worse._

_"Mukuro...sama..." The bundle in his arms suddenly whimpered out.  
__"Help, someone...Mukuro is..." Chrome began tossing her arms around, tearing open the wounds that had already stopped bleeding. Blood drops landed on Tsuna's face and he tried to hold Chrome still  
__"Help him...too many..can't...Help..Boss!" _

_Blue light suddenly glowed next to Tsuna and Yamamoto's hand came to rest on top of Chrome's forehead, the tossing ended and Chrome's expression went from agony to a peaceful,sleeping one.  
__Tsuna nodded as a thanks to Yamamoto who only smiled and continued to walk infront of him, leading them out of the building, outside where Ken had been layed on the ground._

_Tsuna carefully placed Chrome next to him and then pulled out his cellphone,  
__as he dialed the number and lifted it to his ear, he saw Ryohei walking out of the building, shaking his head and spreading his arms in a defeated manner, Reborn following suit._

_'Just as I feared' Tsuna thought as he listened to the beeping of the phone, then there was a small click and Giannini's voice appeared in the other end of the line._

_"__**Tsuna? What is the cituation**_?"_  
"Send medics, immediatly, two wounded and two are nowhere to be found."_

_"__**Whom are not found?"**_

_"Mukuro Rokudo and Chikusa Kakimoto..Chrome and Ken are badly wounded."  
"__**The medics are on their way, it'll take about 10 minutes for them to get there, is that going to be enough." **__  
"I think so, Ryohei is already doing his best to help them." Tsuna said quieltly as he watched his sun guardian trying to heal the wounds._

_"__**Ok, also I wanted to inform that Gokudera has returned and was looking for you, I told that you and Reborn had some business to attend to, shall I tell him to come as well or..?"**__  
"No, it would be better if he stayed there, we don't know what is going on and..."_

_He then heard a bang from the phone and some swearing as well as Giannini's panicked voice, then he heard some tapping against the phone and soon Gokudera's voice appeared on the line_

_"__**Juudaime. Are you ok, what cituation is going on and where, I'm coming over to help right now." **__The heated voice of his storm guardian made him flinch. He knew Gokudera would do anything for the sake of their family, but this cituation was something that needed to be inspected first._

_"Gokudera, I want you to stay there."  
"__**What? No, I'm coming to help, it's my duty, where are you**__?" _

_"Nowhere and somewhere, I have Yamamoto, Ryohei and Reborn here, medics are on their way and everything is under control so there's no need for you to come."  
"__**But it's a right-hand man's duty, I should be there right now... Why do you need medics? You're not injured are you**__?" _

_"No, Gokudera, just stay there, evertyhing is under control and being taken care of, you can just wait there until we get back."  
"__**But boss, it's mu duty to serve you and help on these kind of cituations**__.." Gokudera's voice carried from the phone, Tsuna sighed deep._

_"Gokudera Hayato, this is an order from your boss, you are to stay put in the base until further insturctions are given." _

_"__**But..." **__Gokudera tried to confront Tsuna once more_

_"No, this is an absolute order and I expect you to follow it. The medics are here, I must go now. You'll be informed once we get back"_

_"__**Understood, Juudaime." **__Gokudera said disappointed and he could hear the sound of the phone being moved back to Giannini_

_"I'__**m sorry, he took the**__..."  
"That's alright. just make sure he stay's there and don't say anything about this thing until we're back there."  
"__**Understood. Is there anything else I can help with**__."  
"Can you try to find out the excact time of the attack as well as the cencor reports incase there have been any particularly strong signals during the last few hours."  
"__**Ok, ill do that**__." Giannini said and closed the phone._

_After closing the phone and re-pocketing it, Tsuna walked to stand next to Ryohei who was tending to Ken, Chrome's injuries were more difficult to deal with, they'd definetly need Shamal, who had been treating Chrome's organs and trying to heal the girls body._

_The medics had arrived and taken Ken and Chrome, everything had happened in a blur._

_Reborn had found Mukuro's broken trident and white feathers, probably from the owel._

_Chikusa had suddenly appeared, clothes torn and somewhat in a bad shape, he had been fighting a stranger on his way back to Kokyo. _

_He had been away for some business for two days and had just been returning to home when he had heard some commotion and then he had found himself face to face with the stranger, who had asked him about the whereabouts of Mukuro, Chikusa,who had denied on telling any, had gotten attacked too, but the culprit had run away from the spot, after defeating and binding Chikusa, triggering his mind somehow and found out about the Kokyo land._

_He had then been left into the woods with a broken leg and ribs, somehow he had managed to make his way back to the Kokyo._

_-end flashback-_

Tsuna was awakened from his thoughts when he felt something cold being pressed onto his temple and heard the click of a gun.

"Still too careless I see."

"I doubt the security here would be that low to let someone as low rank as you in" Tsuna replied and turned to look at the tall man next to him.

The black suit, orange rimmed hat and the curled sideburns.

"It's good to see you here." Tsuna smiled softly at his mentor and one of the best friends he had. Ever since the arcobaleno had succeeded, with Verde's experiments, on defeating the curse and returning to their old self's, Tsuna had been having trouble getting used to seeing Reborn in this shape, he had gotten so used to Reborn's baby look, that this adult version always made him somewhat puzzled.

"I take it that things haven't been improving." Reborn nodded to Gokudera's direction taking a seat on the sofa himself.

"No...infact, I feel that they have gotten slightly worse.."

"He ran to the woods again in the night, I have no idea where he got that whisky bottle from this time..." Tsuna sighed and looked at his friend, sorrow evident in them  
"I wish there was something I could do to help him out."

"Well. Staying awake and making yourself sick isn't going to help, so why don't yo go to sleep for now, let's talk things out in the morning." Reborn said and strecthed his arms, snapping his neck in the progress. Car rides always took a toll on his body.

"I tried already but the thoughts wont let me rest... I think we are close to the conclusion this time, and for Gokudera's sake, I do hope so.." Tsuna said and stood up, he began walking to the other side of the bed, but staggered suddenly when a wave of nausea hit him again.

"See. It's no good trying to solve out something in that condition... You'll make it worse if the family suddenly has their boss under caretake too." Reborn said matter-of-factly and just stared at the tenth Vongola boss, leaving him no room for arguments.

"Fine, I'll go to bed, but it's not like it's going to make me sleep." Tsuna said, a bit irritated and left the room.

Reborn checked over Gokudera quickly and then walked after Tsuna.

* * *

He knocked on Tsunas door, but entered before an answer.

Inside, Tsuna sat on his bed, the previously tossed folder now neatly beside him on the bed, papers spread infront of him.

"You're starting to be like a workaholic." Reborn stated and snatched the file and papers away, placing them on a small dresser.

"Hmph. Isn't it good that I'm doing my work rather than running away from it."

Reborn poured a glass of water and walked over to the bed and handed it to Tsuna, as well as a small, white pill.

"What's this?" Tsuna asked, staring at the item in his hand

"You know what it is, you better take that and sleep, in the morning, well work hard on this case." Reborn nodded his head towards the piller and crossed his arms.

"I don't want to take these..they make me feel..." Tsuna tried to find the right words while playing with the small white thingy, rolling it in his fingers

"Akward?Ashamed? Failure? It doesn't matter if you take them in order to be able to sleep, if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to help your family either." Reborn said, a bit irritated, since they had gone trough the same discussions many times had retrieved the tablet earlier from Tsuna's bathroom and he knew that the boy hadn't taken not even one while he was away, so who knew what amount of sleep the mafia boss had actually gotten.

"You know...sometimes I almost hate you..." Tsuna remarked and threw the tablet to his mouth, gulping the water down along with it.

"Oh, you can't hate and you know it too." Reborn joked and made his way to the door,  
he heard shuffling of the beddings and when he turned around he saw Tsuna laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling

"And don't try to fight off the effects of the tablet, it's only for your own good."

"yeah,yeah... Just wake me up in the morning... Go to sleep too, I'm gonna hold onto that promise of tomorrows work" Tsuna said and turned to his side, facing Reborn.

"Let's see which of us will be the one to remind tomorrow" Reborn smirked and flicked off the light and opened the door.

"Hmmph...We'll see.. Goodnight.." Tsuna said and laid his head down, closing his eyes.

"Buona notte,bambina" Reborn smirked while closing the door.

_'Now then, I guess I'd better check out a few things before going to rest too..' _

He walked silently trought the carpeted halls into one one of the study rooms that he usually used, since it was right next to his room.

He flipped open his laptop and started it. He draped his suit jacket over the chair and loosened his tie, rolling his sleeves up.

Next to him stood a big replica of the earth, after staring it for a while, he grabbed a handle to it's side and lifted open the cover.  
He poured himself a glass of grappa and took a small sip, enjoying the burning feeling.

He sat onto the chair and clicked open his e-mail folder.

'10 new messages..' One message intrigued his interest and after reading it's contents, the glass next to him was soon forgotten as he read trough the content again and began furiously typing on his computer, time and tiredness all forgotten.

* * *

Aand that ends chapter two, I'll update three as soons as possible (during this week, I promise!)  
Altough I'm trying to catch my other stories too, but I think i'll write this ready first, since this fic is kind of writing itself :D

Hopefully you enjoyed and read the next one too, I'll try to explain things more in it, im done babbling ; D

Ciaociao!


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